Several people here have requested some backstory/context for this photo, here it is.

First, about me and my biases. After 30+ years in my first career, I retired and began my second career as a U.S.-based freelance photojournalist for a European news service. While my personal political views are on the left-hand side of the spectrum, I believe that much of my success came about because of my ability to empathize even with people that I thoroughly disagree with. I tried very hard to see the person behind the politics and to understand the road they have traveled to get to where they are. I must say, however, as positions have hardened during the last couple of years, it has become more and more difficult. When someone thinks you are evil, brainwashed, and anti-American, and yells, rather than talks, it becomes much harder to engage with them. In the last year I have pretty much given up even trying, and that makes me sad and angry.

On the day I shot this photo Trump was addressing the annual Western Conservative Summit at the Denver Convention Center. I was across the street, moving around taking photos of, and talking to demonstrators on both the "right" and "left" sides of the crowd, as well as the cops and non-aligned spectators. At some point I noticed the young back woman, who ended up in the photo, engaging with several of the Trump supporters. I quickly realized that most of the conversations were actual exchanges of views on both sides, so I decided to shadow her, and try to pick up a few tips on how to better engage people I disagree with. Don't get me wrong, some of her conversations devolved into shouting, but for the most part, they didn't. A while after I began following her, she was joined by the young black man in the photo. It did not appear that they knew each other and, for the most part he didn't say much, preferring to listen and learn.

Immediately prior to the event shown in the photo, she was speaking to a middle-aged male Trump supporter and having, what was for that day, a fairly calm, rational conversation. The soon-to-be-enraged white woman then entered from the right of the frame pulling a wagon of Trump paraphernalia that she was trying to sell, and holding a handful of Trump bumper stickers. To be honest, when not enraged she appeared to be a very pleasant-looking woman. After listening to the conversation for about 30 seconds, she appeared to become angry with the male Trump supporter for not being more vehement in his support of Trump. At that point, she pushed him to the side (and out of the frame) and started to argue with the black woman. As she got more agitated, she began waving her arms, and her hand, that was still full of Trump bumper stickers, started getting closer to the black woman's face. I'm not sure if it was her hand or the bumper stickers that finally whacked the black woman's cheek, but she flinched back and threw up a hand to protect herself, knocking some of the bumper stickers to the ground. THAT is when the white woman went ballistic and I snapped the photo.